The Swan Prophecy
by wordsmith-storyweaver
Summary: Born to save her kingdom and the entire realm from darkness and evil, her triumph has been foretold for years, but she's barely a woman... Destined to take his enemy's place under a terrible curse, his revenge turns to ashes in his mouth and all about him is desolation... Fated to destroy one another, can kindness and humanity overcome tragedy and hate?
1. Prologue

The combatants remained locked together, almost as if embracing; though any fool would know that only bitterest hate existed between the two mortal enemies. Neither of them possessed the time or the luxury of softer emotions such as pity or empathy where the other was concerned. They were clasped together in a final, fatal grip.

The older man glared at the pirate who had cheated both time and death, remaining as youthful and vigorous as the day they had first met in a seedy seaside tavern. He sneered at the younger man's weapon of choice, the hook that had been the humble implement on which he had built a ruthless, glorious reputation; it was currently buried in the scaly folds of his neck, laced with an ichor that held mystical properties and was the only known substance that could paralyze and render him powerless.

The pirate struck, plunging an all too familiar blade into the other man's chest. Rumplestiltskin gasped in agony and in shocked disbelief—the dagger, the source of his magical abilities and of the all the Dark One's knowledge and power, was the only weapon capable of actually killing him. And it had been well hidden for centuries. It takes his dazed and dying mind far longer than it should to come up with the answer to this particular riddle.

"Regina…She helped you find it, didn't she? She spied on me and learned the dagger's location?"

"Aye. Turns out your former apprentice didn't take too kindly to being used and cast aside like a pawn. You really should be more careful about sacrificing your queens, Dark One. Milah's soul can finally rest happy, knowing that you are dead and on your way to hell!"

Rumplestiltskin, growing paler and smaller as gouts of blood flowed down his chest with every remaining beat of his heart, began cackling like mad. Supremely confident in his ultimate victory, the pirate graciously allowed his enemy his final laugh. "Oh, dearie! Milah was never one for being happy no matter what her circumstances, but at least she'll never know the pleasure of being reunited with you in the Netherworld. Should have…paid more attention when Regina made…this deal with you."

Shaken, but refusing to be cowed or visibly frightened, the pirate twisted his hook, drawing the dead man closer still. "The prophecy… and the dagger! Whosoever seeks to destroy the Dark One must…become the Dark One! It's the price…the magic always…has a price."

"I don't believe you!"

"Disbelieve all you…like, dearie. I couldn't…have chosen a better successor. But ask…Regina. The prophecy of the Savior…I'm free of it now…Just wish…could have seen…you destroyed. Once and for-"

The black light faded from the old man's eyes as his body fell limp. The pirate let go and allowed his victim to bonelessly slump on the floor. Within seconds, sparks began to glow and dance around his hook; the leather and metal and flesh all blurred to his sight, and he watched in horrified fascination as his maimed limb became a hand once more, fingers clasped around the shining weapon. His right hand somehow retained its grip on the dagger, and slowly, he tears his gaze from the one hand to the other.

On the wickedly curved blade, where the name Rumplestiltskin had appeared permanently etched by acid, Captain Hook is now written as if in the blood of his enemy. He screams, dropping both weapons and gripping his head between his hands as Power begins to crash into his body and slam against the barriers of his mind. His agonized shrieks are heard for miles around, as is the sound of a magical maelstrom that flattens the forest nearby. Coming morning, the inhabitants of the Enchanted Forest know that the Dark One has been killed and another One has risen in his place.


	2. Chapter 1- The Ballad of the Savior

…_One Year Earlier…_

"_And so it was that as the Evil Queen's dark curse rolled over the realms of the Enchanted Forest, Queen Snow White began her travail. Clouds filled with ominous magic tore through towns and villages and palaces, ripping people from their homes and laying waste to the lands. And the Evil Queen herself rode on horses made of thunder, surrounded by knights fit to ride the Wild Hunt; in her wrath, she bore down upon the palace of the King and Queen, intent upon exulting over her victims as the final storm of the curse rolled over them all._"

"Oh, please! I was in a carriage, not prancing about on the elements!"

"It's called artistic expression, Regina. Doesn't the ridiculous analogy and overwrought hyperbole make it sound so much more terrifying and exciting?! I know it gives me chills every time."

"_But King David and Queen Snow White had been made aware of the curse and warned that only their child, the product of True Love, could save the realm. She was to be placed in a wardrobe, painstakingly and lovingly carved by the artisan Ghepetto and enchanted by the Blue Fairy herself, to transport her into another realm—one that would be protected from the magic of the Evil Queen's dark curse. Just as the infamous black knights broke through the palace gates, Queen Snow White gave birth to the Savior—their daughter, Princess Emma._"

"The wood came from an enchanted tree! I swear, that fairy is an absolute glory hound. Mark my words: she was up to no good then, and she's up to no good now."

"Oh, hush! This is the best part! Say what you will about the fairies, but they like to cloak themselves and their deeds in an aura of mystery, and they've got a great P.R. department."

"_Desperate to save his child and his people, King David took his newborn babe from his wife's tired arms; her sorrow at the parting knew no bounds. But that they placed the happiness and safety of their kingdom and their realm above their own, they had decided to sacrifice for the good of all. The King raced from his Queen's rooms and toward the nursery where the enchanted wardrobe had been built and kept. Yet in the time it had taken for the child to be born and prepared for her magical journey, the dreaded black knights had fought their way into the tower where the royal apartments lay and an entire detachment of guards stood between the King and his daughter's nursery_."

"There were exactly three of my knights in that hallway!"

"Okay, maybe bit was teensy, slightly too much exaggeration. But he was carrying a defenseless child at the time, so that would have hampered his usual swordsman's finesse. But if the odds were three to one, what kept them from slaying him outright? Did they just stand around, taking him on one by one, letting their predecessor be defeated before pressing their own attack? Really, such shoddy tactics for a seemingly bloodthirsty and honor-less lot."

"I'll give you that one. I never recruited them for their brains, you know. Such a waste of intelligence for mere cannon fodder!" By this time, their sotto voce conversation had been noted and was earning them annoyed glances and shushes from the people around them.

"_Valiantly, the King defended the life of his precious daughter and fought against the overwhelming odds in order to reach the nursery. By the time they reached their destination, the walls and floors of the palace corridors were awash in blood. In the midst of the fight, the King had taken a sword thrust to his left shoulder. All unaware, he began to bleed, several drops falling upon his babe's head like the blessed water from a holy fount._"

"That's just disgusting!"

"It's supposed to be poetic—as if he's christening her and making her claim to the throne official before the princess is spirited away by the wardrobe. But then, blood magic is the most powerful of all."

"Except for the magic of True Love, yes. Are you saying my knights shouldn't have wounded him?"

"It might have made things turn out a little different, dearie. You'd been ruling the roost, and I'd be reunited with my son!"

"I still haven't forgiven you for that, you know."

"Of course you have! Besides, I'm your only true friend here; without me, you'd have gone stark raving mad by now. A defeated queen, a powerless trophy of your enemy's triumph, a defanged and clawless lioness in a gilded cage that the rabble can pay money to view and taunt at their leisure, a-"

"Your point is made, imp!"

"_The King fought bravely despite his wounds, up unto the very doorway of his daughter's nursery, slaying his opponent and giving himself enough of a respite to kiss his child upon her bloodstained brow and place her gently in the wardrobe. 'Find us,' he said to the babe. 'Find us and save us.' With this final prayer upon his lips, he closed and locked the doors of the wardrobe just as another detachment of knights and the Evil Queen herself entered the otherwise peaceful room. King David was quickly subdued, held fast between two knights as the Evil Queen boasted of her victory._"

"You know, dearie, gloating is all well and good… But you should actually be certain of things like that before you start your maniacal monologue."

"You're incredibly lucky that I've never been able to recover my magic. It's bad enough that I have to stand here and listen to this drivel every year, but your commentary never waxes even close to amusing. It's also considered ungallant to kick an opponent when they're down."

"Well let's make a deal, shall we? You actually manage to be a threat, and I'll apologize for reveling in your powerless misery!"

At this point, their petty squabbling had truly begun to grate upon the nerves of their neighbors. One of the palace guards—summoned and informed of the bickering—after reporting to the king and queen had one of his fellows sent to deal with the issue. The guard approached the feuding pair with caution and respect; even with their magical talons sheathed, the young guardsman knew that Rumplestiltskin and Regina were not to be mocked or underestimated. "Her majesty Queen Snow White has been alerted to your quarreling. She says, 'Remember that you are prisoners, and not guests; and so help me, if you continue to interrupt the Princess Emma's birthday celebrations, I will keep you both more closely confined or executed.'"

Having finished delivering his message, he bowed to the witch and the wizard before backing away from them. Regina sniffed. "At least that one had manners! Last year's couldn't be bothered with the courtesies… I enjoyed managing his fall from grace."

"And that's what I love about you, dearie dearie! So spiteful AND resourceful."

"…_The two captured monarchs gazed hopelessly into each other' eyes over the blades held at their throats and stared hopefully at the wardrobe, silently pleading with the powers that be that the magical enchantment had worked and sent their daughter safely away. But the power of their love for the Princess Emma, and the power of her father's noble sacrifice of blood on her behalf had awoken an even older, more powerful form of magic that overrode the Blue Fairy's spell. When the Evil Queen opened the wardrobe, the infant Princess lay at the bottom, wrapped in the blanket that had been lovingly created for her by her second godmother, Granny Lucas._

"_Despairing of the Princess Emma's life in the hands of her mortal enemy now that magic had failed them, Queen Snow White uttered a pained cry and lunged forward to gather her beloved babe in her arms once more, for she had only held her for a few moments after the birth before surrendering her child to the king. The knight's dagger pierced the royal flesh and drew blood from her just as it had been drawn from the King. The Evil Queen glared at the innocent child, the one fated and prophesied to destroy all darkness in their realm, and picked her up. 'I do believe that in this new land, I shall raise this child. I shall teach her to abhor the two of you, and she shall be my perfect revenge. Your child reared in my image, trained to be my likeness and revere me as her mother. Your happiness shall be mine.'_"

"Finally! They get something right!"

"_But the Evil Queen could not have known that all was set for her destruction. The Savior—born of True Love, for whom both of her parents had bled in order to preserve her life—possessed within her soul the power of Purest Light Magic, so that all innocent and unknowing though she was, she could destroy the darkest of magics. By this time, the full fury of the dark curse had been unleashed and it began to storm through the palace itself, even unto the nursery where the royal family stood at the witch's mercy. When the Evil Queen held the child aloft, the babe reached out her hand to the roiling purple and green clouds of the Curse and touched them. In a blinding flash of light, the Evil Queen was struck to the ground, dazed and weakened; the black knights were likewise afflicted and collapsed unconscious around the freed, awestruck royals._

"_The infant Princess smiled at her amazed parents who now gathered their child into their arms. From the broken doors of the balcony of the nursery, King David and Queen Snow White watched as the ominous clouds rolled back, restoring people back to their rightful homes and places, although much of the damage and destruction remained in its receding wake. They gazed upon the Princess Emma in delighted wonder, proud that their love for each other and for her and for their people had already been proven beyond all doubts and fears. And so it was that the Evil Queen was defeated—her powerful magics stripped from her—making the lands of the Enchanted Forest safe once more. In recompense for his warning and revealing the Prophecy of the Savior, Rumplestiltskin was released from his imprisonment and made godfather to the Princess, so that he would never again be tempted to bring harm to the White Kingdom and their allies_."

"And so it was that the Princess Emma was born, fulfilled the Prophecy of the Savior, and saved the Enchanted Forest from the greatest of evils." The entire room repeated the last lines of the chronicle as per tradition. Everyone knew the entirety of the story by heart, of course, but none of the people crowded into the great hall could deny that this year's bard had performed The Ballad of the Savior beautifully. The applause echoed and reverberated through the stone walls and into the rest of the palace. Indeed, only two people seemed completely unmoved by both the song itself and the general acclaim—and one of them was seated on her throne at her mother's left-hand side.

All of her life, Princess Emma had been practically worshipped as the Savior—praised and lauded for an event she could not recall and over which she had had no control. In truth, she has always felt as if someone else were the person of legend who was responsible for the great deeds that had been credited to her name. She had just been born! She had no real responsibility for what had happened any more than she had a hand in the bright gold of her hair or the moss green of her eyes! Both of those had been passed down from her parents, just as the True Love had been and just as this story had been. Whoever else she may be, Emma had never seen herself as the Savior and had felt guilty accepting the praise and devotion of her people. Yes, she wanted to protect them as ferociously and as loyally as her parents had done during the wars against Regina and George; but she wanted to do it actively and be able to remember it, too. So as she descended from the dais to mingle with her birthday guests, she pasted on a tight smile, did her best to ignore the flattering and obsequious courtiers, and made it a point to thank each and every guest no matter how humble.

But there was another who had not been moved to tears by the song; rather, he had keenly observed the princess throughout the recitation, searching for a spark or a sign of the amazing powers she supposedly wielded. For in all her 17 years, the Savior, the magical Princess Emma had never again used so much as a single spell. Yet every source confirmed the Prophecy and the Blue Fairy's pronouncement—Emma, daughter of Snow White and heir to two kingdoms, possessed enough raw magical power to bring the Dark One to his knees.

Something that this unknown, officially not invited guest was very interested in indeed. He had patiently watched and listened from a hidden alcove as Rumplestiltskin tormented Regina, barely containing his rage, but waiting for her signal. As soon as the royals began to mingle with the nobles, gentry, and peasantry who had been invited to this year's celebration, Regina's eyes had unerringly sought out and found his clever hiding place. Her smile was cloyingly sweet, but he was wary and cunning enough to know that it was likely to be deadly poisoned as well. For all her appearances of being tame and conquered, the Evil Queen was more determined than ever to control the fates of the realm and have the seemingly perfect lives of her enemies come crashing down. Like him, she had every intention of dancing in the ashes and rubble once the long years of anticipating their vengeance were over.


End file.
